Upset
by katienicole426
Summary: this has no prophecy or anything. it's basically just clan life.
1. Chapter 1

**Shadowclan**

_Leader_

Stripestar: pale tabby tom; amber eyes

_Deputy_

Shortclaw: a short-legged dark tom; amber eyes

_Medicine Cat_

Darkfur: dark gray tabby she-cat; blue eyes

_Warriors_

Gorsewhisker: dark brown tabby tom; amber eyes

Apprentice: Gingerpaw

Stripetail: ginger tabby tom; green eyes

Apprentice: Fernpaw

Flametail: dark ginger she-cat; amber eyes

Mudfur: brown tom; amber eyes

Featherfur: pale gray she-cat; light blue eyes

Icebird: pure white she-cat; green eyes

Blackstripe: dark gray tabby tom; amber eyes

_Apprentices_

Gingerpaw: ginger tom with dark ginger paws; amber eyes

Fernpaw: dark gray she-cat; blue eyes (blind- can see shapes, but they're blurry)

_Queens_

Pigeonwing: tortoiseshell she-cat; green eyes

_Elders_

Dapplepelt: dappled she-cat; amber eyes

_Additional Characters_

Honeypaw: golden brown she-cat; green eyes (Windclan)

Blackpaw: black tom; orange eyes (Windclan)


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, so Fernpaw isn't blind, I accidentally put that in.**

"And the cats going to the gathering tonight will be Shortclaw, Gingerpaw, Darkfur,

Icebird, Flametail, Gorsewhisker, and Fernpaw." Stripestar meowed, ending the clan

meeting and Gingerpaw bounded over to Fernpaw. "Are you excited for your first

gathering?"

The young apprentice twitched her whiskers nervously. "Yes I am excited, but I'm also

kind of nervous. At least I'll be with you." She replied warmly. Gingerpaw touched noses

with the gray she-cat and backed away, embarrassed. Flametail padded over to the two

apprentices and nudged them to the camp entrance. The group of cats going to the

gathering made it to the Thunderpath and Gingerpaw could smell Fernpaw's fear-scent,

so he brushed against her side to comfort her. They stopped at the edge of the harsh

smelling black ground. Gingerpaw flinched as a monster flew past them and Fernpaw

leapt backwards. Gingerpaw had already crossed the Thunderpath a few times, but

Fernpaw hadn't yet. Shortclaw, Darkfur, Gorsewhisker, and Gingerpaw raced across

when they didn't see any monsters coming. Gingerpaw watched anxiously as Stripestar

crossed, along with Flametail. Icebird motioned for Fernpaw to go and the apprentice

started to run across the Thunderpath. Suddenly, a monster hit her with a glancing blow.

Gingerpaw gritted his teeth and gasped as his best friend collapsed to the ground. Icebird

grabbed the little cat by her scruff and dragged her back onto Shadowclan territory. "I'll

take her back to camp and take care of her until you get back. I'm sure she'll be fine."

The white she-cat called. Darkfur shook her head. "No she won't. I need to take care of

her." The medicine cat meowed quietly to her leader. Stripestar nodded and Darkfur

bounded across the Thunderpath to her new patient. Icebird helped her drag Fernpaw

back to camp and Gingerpaw watched them disappear into the darkness. Stripestar turned

to his warriors. "Let's go."

Gingerpaw's jaw dropped at the harsh carelessness of his leader, but he followed him

towards Fourtrees.


	3. Chapter 3

When the remaining cats reached Fourtrees, Gingerpaw wasn't surprised that they were

the last to arrive. He looked around to find a group of apprentices to sit with. He spotted

four younger looking cats so he padded over to them.

"Hello." meowed a friendly brown tom. "I'm Thistlepaw."

Gingerpaw could smell the strong scent of Thunderclan coming from him. A small gray

and white she-cat that smelled of fish sat beside Thistlepaw. "I'm Streampaw from

Riverclan."

A wiry black tom sat next to her. "I'm Blackpaw of Windclan and this is my clanmate,

Honeypaw." He pointed to a beautiful golden she-cat with bright green eyes beside him.

"I'm Gingerpaw." The Shadowclan apprentice stammered self-consciously. "My best

friend Fernpaw, well you'll hear about it when Stripestar makes his announcements."

As soon as he finished the Thunderclan leader, Lightningstar, spoke. "Thunderclan is

doing well; we have two new kits, Sparrowkit and Mallowkit, as well as two new

warriors, Snowtail and Volefur. The prey runs well, especially at Sunningrocks."

Gingerpaw knew that the Thunderclan leader was just trying to pick a fight with

Riverclan because they had just beaten them in a battle over Sunningrocks. Fishstar

hissed quietly and so did many of his clan. "Riverclan is doing well also, we have

welcomed one new apprentice, Streampaw, and we have also had Hawkpelt join the

elders."

Many cats whispered to each other about the retirement of Hawkpelt, he was well known

for his fighting skills. Stripestar stepped forward. "Shadowclan are doing well, and

Fernpaw received her apprentice name a little over a half moon ago. She was supposed to

come tonight, but while we were crossing the Thunderpath she was hit by a monster. Our

medicine cat, Darkfur, and Fernpaw's mother, Icebird, took her back to camp to take care

of her."

Honeypaw scooted closer to Gingerpaw and leaned against him, licking his shoulder

comfortingly. Blackpaw stared at her in shock and so did a couple other cats, including

warriors. Gingerpaw's pelt burned in embarrassment, but he didn't want her to move

away. He looked around and all the other cats were going back to their clans, the

gathering was over. Honeypaw stopped suddenly. "Goodbye, I hope your friend gets

better." She touched noses with Gingerpaw and bounded over to her leader, followed by

an astonished Blackpaw.


	4. Chapter 4

**SORRY, SO MUCH VOLLEYBALL!**

Gingerpaw followed his clan members slowly back to camp. He couldn't believe how

friendly Honeypaw was, he liked her a lot. He maybe even loved her. The thoughts were

racing through his head, but he figured they were all ridiculous thoughts. He was too

young to be in love, or was he? He knew he loved Fernpaw, but he felt different with

Honeypaw, it was more exciting. He remembered something she had whispered when she

was leaving. _"Meet me at our border, by the holly bushes."_ He was excited, but he was

kind of worried about getting caught. He decided he would go after he saw Fernpaw, she

couldn't watch over him in the apprentice den after the monster hit her. He realized that

they were back at the Thunderpath. He flinched as he remembered how the monster had

hit Fernpaw, and the thud she made when she hit the ground. He raced across the stinking

ground and kept running, ahead of his clanmates. He was the first back to camp and ran

into the medicine cat's den. He skidded to a stop and sniffed his friend's fur. She smelled

like crowfood. Fernpaw stood up and looked around for Gingerpaw. "Gingerpaw? Is that

you?"

Gingerpaw squinted his eyes at her. "I'm right in front of you. How didn't you know?"

Fernpaw's ears drooped. "I can't see."

Gingerpaw didn't know what to say so he licked the top of her head. "It's going to be

fine. Are you hurt in any other way?"

Fernpaw shook her head. "No, I just can't see. Darkfur said that there was a case in

Riverclan where a cat was hit by a twoleg. He couldn't see for a while, but his sight came

back. See? I'll be fine!"

"Um, are you sure? That cat was hit by a twoleg; you were hit by a monster. There's a

huge difference between the two."

"Don't take away what little hope I have." Fernpaw whispered sadly. "I need to be able to

believe that I will be a warrior."

Gingerpaw nosed her side and said a quick goodbye. He went into the apprentice den and

waited until he heard the warriors in the den next to his quiet down. They were asleep. He

crept quietly through camp, the entire time hoping no cat saw him. He snuck past the

night guard, Blackstripe, and let out the breath he had been holding in when he knew he

was safe. He slunk silently through the dark forest and finally made it to the holly bush

that Honeypaw told him to go to. He sat in silence, gazing at the moon until a cat jumped

on him. His breath caught in his throat for a moment until he smelled the sweet scent of

Honeypaw.

"Hello." She purred and jumped off of his back. Gingerpaw stood up happily and touched

noses gently with her. It didn't matter that she smelled of rabbits and he smelled of the

forest, they were meant to be together. They spent the entire night talking about their

clanmates and previous gatherings they'd been to. Honeypaw said that Blackpaw was

interested in her, but she liked Gingerpaw more, even if he was a stinky Shadowclan cat.

Gingerpaw pretended to be offended by her comment and they got into a pretend scuffle.

He finally pinned her down. "Wow, you're pretty good at fighting." Gingerpaw meowed

breathlessly. Honeypaw looked away from him shyly. "Thanks, but I'm nowhere near as

good as you." She flipped over onto her stomach and Gingerpaw fell off her and hit the

ground with a quiet thud.

"I think we should go back." She meowed with regret tingeing her voice.

Gingerpaw didn't want that night to end, it was nice to have a friend that he could tell

anything, but he knew he needed to go to check on Fernpaw because it was morning

already. Honeypaw padded quickly back onto her territory and kept going, looking back a

few times. Gingerpaw watched her leave and turned to go back to camp when she

disappeared into the sunrise. He walked with his eyes on the ground, he felt kind of guilty

now that Honeypaw was gone, he told her about his clan. What if she used that against

him in battle?


	5. Chapter 5

Gingerpaw couldn't believe how tired he was. He'd been meeting Honeypaw every

couple of nights for the past three moons and his lack of sleep was definitely having an

impact on his training. Fernpaw was living in the elders den with Dapplepelt now, but her

vision hadn't improved at all. Gingerpaw was afraid that she would never become a full

warrior, but she didn't seem to have the same fears as him. He dragged himself out of the

apprentice den and found his mentor.

"Today, we're going to have an assessment. Don't disappoint me." Gingerpaw's mentor,

Gorsewhisker, growled to the younger cat. Gingerpaw knew his mentor was in a bad

mood because Fernpaw was his daughter. He couldn't believe that his only kit would

never be a warrior, so he seemed to be taking out his anger on Gingerpaw. Gingerpaw

knew he would be getting his warrior name soon and he was really excited, but he

couldn't help wondering how Honeypaw was doing. She was from Windclan, for

Starclan's sake, he couldn't believe loved her. He nearly stepped on a mouse eating a

beech nut, so he stopped and pounced on it clumsily, killing it quickly with a nip to the

back of the neck. His paws didn't seem to be moving like they should, he needed to get

more sleep. He finished the assessment around sunhigh and took his prey back to camp.

As soon as he set his kill on the fresh-kill pile, Fernpaw bowled him over.

"How are you?" She meowed playfully nipping his ears. Gingerpaw was amazed at how

happy she was, he wouldn't be as excited as she was if he was in her predicament.

"Good," he replied, stunned, "I can see you're good too."

Fernpaw shook her head. "Nope, I'm in a great mood. I can see again!"

"Really?"

"Well, I can see shapes, but they're blurry and hard to define. The good thing is that I can

hear and smell really well now, so I don't need to see as well as I used to." She mewed

proudly. Gingerpaw covered her with loving licks and realized that he loved her more

than Honeypaw. Honeypaw was more of a crush; he knew he was supposed to be with

Fernpaw. His thoughts were interrupted by Stripestar calling a clan meeting. "Today, we

have two very important ceremonies. The first is a warrior ceremony for Gingerpaw.

Gingerpaw, step up beside me."

The ginger apprentice bounded forward to stand next to his leader.

"Do you promise to uphold the warrior code? Are you willing to give up your life to

protect your clan?"

Gingerpaw nodded eagerly. 

"Then, I name you Gingerclaw."

The entire clan yowled his name in unison, with Fernpaw the loudest. "Gingerclaw,

Gingerclaw!"

When they were finished, Stripestar motioned for them to quiet down. "We have one

more warrior ceremony. Fernpaw, please come up here."

Fernpaw stared at him with her mouth open until Gingerclaw touched her back with his

tail. She padded quickly to her leader and stood rigid with anticipation.

"Fernpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code? Are you willing to give up your

life to protect your clan?"

"Yes" she replied with sincerity ringing in her strong meow.

"Then your warrior name will be Fernwillow. Although you are a warrior now, I want

Gingerclaw to train you. You cannot see very well, so you will have to practice battle

moves and hunting skills every day like an apprentice, but you will be a warrior. Are you

okay with that?"

Fernwillow nodded her head joyfully.

"Fernwillow! Fernwillow!" The clan yowled, led by Gingerclaw. The two warriors

gingerly touched noses and Gingerclaw whispered something quietly to her.

"I love you too." Fernwillow replied lovingly.

**I don't know if I want to continue writing this story. Unless I get more reviews I'll probably stop. My life is super hectic with volleyball every day and then homework. **

**I just don't have as much time as I used to have, so if nobody's reading this then what's the point in writing it. Right?**


	6. Chapter 6

Gingerclaw sat all night by the camp entrance for his silent vigil with Fernwillow.

Finally, Shortclaw relieved them of their duty and told them to share a piece of fresh-kill.

"You two also get to go to the gathering together tonight."

Fernwillow trembled with excitement and fear. "I'm super excited, but I don't want to

cross the Thunderpath. It scares me."

"It's okay; I know a secret way to get to the other side without having to watch for

monsters." Gingerclaw meowed quietly into her ear. Fernwillow licked her mate's cheek

in thanks. They padded out of camp and got some moss to make some new nests. They

carried it over to the warriors den and made two nests beside each other in the corner.

They walked slowly over to the fresh-kill pile and Gingerclaw picked out a juicy squirrel

for them to share. They dug in and finished it off with a few bites.

"Do you want to go work on a couple battle moves and finish off with some hunting

today?" Gingerclaw asked Fernwillow.

"Sure." She replied excitedly. They bounded out of camp to a clearing in the forest for

battle practice. Gingerclaw touched Fernwillow's shoulder with his tail for her to stop

and told her to attack him. She leapt at a bush next to Gingerclaw and got stuck in some

brambles. "I wish I could see. This is never going to work!" She hissed frustratedly.

"You can see." Gingerclaw mewed gently. "You just need a little practice and you'll be

fine."

They practiced for the rest of the day and Fernwillow finally started to get some good

attacks in. After they had a little scuffle, Fernwillow appeared on top and Gingerclaw

couldn't believe how good of a fighter she was.

"Good," he breathed. "Let's go hunting; I think we've done enough battle skills for the

day."

Fernwillow jumped off of him and let him lead her through the forest. Gingerclaw ended

up catching a frog and two mice. Unfortunately Fernwillow didn't catch anything, but she

nearly caught a small vole, but Gingerclaw didn't expect anything more because she had

hardly been an apprentice when she was hit by the monster. They padded silently back to

camp with Gingerclaw carrying the frog and Fernwillow carrying the two mice. Icebird

met them at the entrance. "Wow! Did you catch these mice Fernwillow?"

The gray she-cat dropped the mice, as did Gingerclaw, and started to reply when

Gingerclaw put his tail in her mouth. "Yes, she did catch them." He meowed.

"Congratulations!" she yowled proudly. Fernwillow dipped her head in embarrassment

and waited until her mother left her and Gingerclaw alone to hiss. "What was that? I

didn't catch anything!"

"So?" Gingerclaw shrugged. "You're my mate; I want cats to know what you're capable

of."

"I want to be known for what I've actually done, not what they think I've done." She

growled coldly and stalked off into the queens den to talk to her friend. Gingerclaw

followed her quietly, so she wouldn't know that he was there and he heard voices talking.

"Two? That's great!"

That was Fernwillow talking, he was sure of it.

"Thanks! I just don't know what to name them."

Gingerclaw knew that was Pigeonwing. She was the only cat in the den who was

expecting kits. He walked in like he hadn't been listening. "Hi Pigeonwing, Fernwillow.

Oh! You've had your kits!"

Pigeonwing looked proudly down at the two little bundles of fur resting by her stomach.

"Yes, I just don't know what to name them."

"Can I name one?" Gingerclaw asked, he had the perfect name for one of them.

"Of course! That would be very helpful, and Fernwillow can name the other."

Fernwillow glared at Gingerclaw. "Thanks Pigeonwing. I want to name the black one."

"Well I want to name it!" Gingerclaw snapped.

Pigeonwing looked really confused. "You two are ridiculous. Stop fighting and behave

like warriors. Even if you got into a fight, suck it up and deal with each other. Fernwillow

you can name the black one, and Gingerclaw you can name the dark tabby."

Gingerclaw snorted angrily, but replied. "Okay, my name for the dark tabby she-cat is

Petalkit."

Fernwillow chuckled; she couldn't believe that the brave warrior she loved had named a

kit _Petalkit_. "Well, I will name the black tom Thistlekit, after Gingerclaw's friend."

Gingerclaw purred and licked her nose. "Thanks, I didn't know you ever listened to my

stories about gatherings."

"Of course I did! I always wanted to know everything about you, including your friends.

I love you."

"I love you too."


	7. Chapter 7

Gingerclaw and Fernwillow padded over to Stripestar with their tails intertwined.

"Are you two ready to go?" Stripestar meowed with a knowing look in his eyes. They

nodded and the small patrol of cats left for the gathering. Gingerclaw told Stripestar

about finding a tunnel beneath the Thunderpath. He led Fernwillow away from the group

and she followed him into a small tunnel beneath the Thunderpath. They slowly entered

the little hole and followed it until the end, on Thunderclan's territory. They bounded

over to the rest of the cats and continued on to Fourtrees. They arrived last, as usual and

Gingerclaw took Fernwillow to meet his friends from the other clans. It was her first

gathering so she was kind of nervous to be around all of the cats. She acted like they were

all going to attack her.

"Hey! How's it going Gingerpaw?" A brown tom meowed excitedly.

"It's Gingerclaw now." Fernwillow replied coolly. Gingerclaw looked at her strangely.

"It's okay Fernwillow; this is Thistlepaw, my friend."

Fernwillow flattened her ears straight to her head in embarrassment. "Sorry! I didn't

know that was you."

Thistlepaw chuckled with amusement. "Its fine, but I'm Thistlethorn now. You're

Fernwillow? I've heard a lot about you. This is Streamripple on my right and Blacktail on

my left. We all got our warrior names a little while before this gathering."

"Did you know that Fernwillow named a kit after you Thistlethorn?" Gingerclaw mewed,

trying to hold in a laugh. Fernwillow looked like she wanted to sink into the ground so

Gingerclaw tried to change the subject. "Where's Honeypaw?"

"She's Honeyclaw." Blacktail hissed coldly. "She had her kit two moons ago. Your kit!"

Gingerclaw's heart sank straight into the ground and so did he. He sat down and opened

and closed his mouth over and over again. Fernwillow stared at nothing, looking

horrified. Thistlethorn tapped Streamripple on her shoulder and led her away from the

three other cats.

"My kit?" Gingerclaw echoed. "Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure! She has the exact same eyes as you! They're sort of golden with

brown flecks. She's definitely not mine!"

Gingerclaw and Fernwillow sat in silence. "I guess this is a bad time to tell you that I'm

expecting kits, huh?" Fernwillow meowed, shocked.

"And that concludes tonight's gathering, I hope you all have a great moon until we meet

again." Snowstar of Thunderclan meowed. Gingerclaw dragged his paws over to the cats

that came with him and Fernwillow. His mate gently laid her tail on his back and tried to

keep him steady by walking close beside him. All of the cats quietly padded slowly back

to camp; they all seemed to know that something was wrong, but no cat wanted to ask.

"It's okay." Fernwillow whispered. "No other cat will know, except for Streamripple and

Blacktail. They won't tell anybody either, they're your friends."

"I'm so sorry." Gingerclaw replied sadly. "I had no idea."

"It's fine. I know it was a mistake." Fernwillow meowed lovingly. "These kits won't ever

know about the other one. Problem solved!"

Gingerclaw couldn't believe that Fernwillow was taking it that easily.

"I know what you're thinking. How can I forgive you? It's because I've loved you since I

was a little kit, I won't let anything get in between us. Our fight today really upset me and

I don't want to do that again. You and I belong together."

Gingerclaw licked her gently. "You're right, we do belong together."


	8. Chapter 8

"They're so cute!" Fernwillow meowed excitedly. "My kits! Your kits! Our kits! I love

them so much!"

Gingerclaw licked his mate's side gently. "Fernwillow, they're beautiful."

"What should we name them?"

Gingerclaw didn't know, he had used up his only good idea on Petalkit. "How about we

wait until they open their eyes to decide." He meowed hopefully.

"Sure." Fernwillow replied and lowered her voice. "What about Smallkit? Honeyclaw

doesn't want her."

Gingerclaw closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Honeyclaw wanted to join

Shadowclan, but I said no. She went kind of crazy and threatened to hurt Smallkit, so

Blacktail calmed her down and said that we needed to take her."

Fernwillow looked down at her kits, thinking about what it would be like if one of them

got hurt. It would almost be unbearable for her, how could Honeyclaw be so cold-

hearted?

"Blacktail will bring Smallkit to the border tonight and I will bring her here." Gingerclaw

meowed briskly, seeing the fear for his mate's kits in her eyes. Fernwillow turned her

head to stare at him. Gingerclaw couldn't believe he had ever thought her eyes were

creepy. Sure they used to look like clear pools of water, but now they looked even better

to him. They had sort of a strange white glint to them in the light, but he thought that they

were pretty either way.

"Um hello?" Fernwillow mewed with a strange look on her face. "What are you going to

do to disguise her scent?"

"Well, first I have some crowfood that I put by the Thunderpath a few sunrises ago, so

she will roll in it to cover up her scent. Then she'll roll on the Thunderpath when there

are no monsters on it. I will bring her here and introduce her to Stripestar and hope that

he will let her stay."

"Okay, be careful." Fernwillow replied worriedly. Gingerclaw nodded and padded out

into the Shadowclan camp. He had to wait a couple moments for his eyes to adjust to the

bright light and noticed that Darkfur was right next to him.

"How are your kits?" She asked friendly. "The little gray tom looks like he'll be a good

hunter, just like his father. The she-cat is going to have your attitude about everything.

She's the darkest ginger cat I've seen in a while."

Gingerclaw dipped his head in agreement and was embarrassed when his stomach

growled. "Sorry," He meowed with his ears flat to his head.

"It's fine. You should probably go hunting with Gorsewhisker, I know he was about to go

by himself. Gingerclaw mewed a quick thanks and bounded over to Gorsewhisker to ask

about hunting. "Hi Gorsewhisker, do you think I could go hunting with you?"

"Of course!" Gorsewhisker meowed happily. He led Gingerclaw out of camp and they

hunted in silence for a while.

"So have you named your kits yet?" Gorsewhisker meowed awkwardly. The two hadn't

gotten along very well as apprentice and mentor.

"No, we're waiting until they open their eyes, that way we can see if their name will fit

everything about them."

Gorsewhisker nodded understandingly. Gingerclaw looked around and noticed it was

about time for him to meet Blacktail. He convinced Gorsewhisker to go back and let him

stay out for a little bit longer. He watched the tom leave and bounded towards the

Windclan border. No, towards his kit.


	9. Chapter 9

Gingerclaw crept silently through the undergrowth, he didn't want any cat to know what

he was about to do. He sniffed the air and smelled the rabbity scent of Windclan. They

were there. "Hello?" He meowed cautiously.

"Who's that?" Came a small mew. That must have been Smallkit.

"Hush," a tom's voice meowed quietly. Gingerclaw knew that was Blacktail, he'd know

his friend's voice anywhere. He walked through a bush to meet his oldest daughter.

"Who are you?" A tortoiseshell kit meowed with a questioning gaze. Gingerclaw

couldn't believe that her eyes were exactly the same color as his.

"I'm your father, Gingerclaw." He replied shakily. "I'm taking you home Smallkit."

"Yeah, I know. Honeyclaw doesn't want me anymore." Smallkit growled coldly. "It

doesn't matter to me. I cared at first, but she was a wretched excuse for a mother."

Gingerclaw couldn't believe his ears, his kit was only three moons old and she was

already hardened to her own mother's emotions. "Well you will love my mate

Fernwillow. She's partially blind, so she can see everything, but it's really blurry. You'll

also love your brother and sister. They're going to open their eyes in a few sunrises so

you'll be there when we name them."

Gingerclaw wrapped his tail around Smallkit and gently pulled her over to the

Shadowclan side of the border. He led her away and she didn't look back at her old

home. Gingerclaw and Smallkit padded along quietly and Smallkit looked around in

wonder at the dark forest.

"Everything is so closed in here, I kind of like it." Smallkit meowed in amazement. "How

are you going to introduce me to everyone else?"

"I'm going to say that you were a kit that I found while I was out hunting, you've been

eating crowfood for the past moon because you can't hunt for yourself. Fernwillow will

volunteer to be your mother, so she'll take care of you." Gingerclaw explained. They

stopped at the Thunderpath and Gingerclaw motioned for Smallkit to roll in the crowfood

near the Thunderpath. The little kit wrinkled her nose, but laid down in the rotting prey.

She rolled around in it for a few moments and got up, stinking of the vole. Gingerclaw

picked his kit up and ran across the Thunderpath as fast as he could. He carried her all the

way back to camp and dropped her at his leader's feet.

"Who's this?" Stripestar meowed.

"A kit that I found by the Thunderpath, I checked, she's not from any of the clans."

Gingerclaw meowed smoothly.

"Where are you from?" Stripestar asked Smallkit. She shot a frightened glance at

Gingerclaw and he nodded encouragingly at her. "I don't know. My mother is dead, so

I've been living by myself for about a moon. I've had to eat crowfood, yuck!"

Stripestar chuckled. "I know what you mean. What's your name?"

Smallkit looked down sadly. "I don't have one. I've never met another cat until

Gingerclaw, other than my mother. May I please stay with you?"

Gingerclaw was extremely impressed with Smallkit, but she should not have been able to

lie that well. "How about Fernwillow and I take care of her and name her with our kits,

that way she'll be more of a part of our clan."

"That's a wonderful idea Gingerclaw. Take her into the nursery and introduce her to your

kits and Fernwillow." Stripestar meowed confidently. Gingerclaw nodded and led

Smallkit to the nursery. They padded in slowly and Smallkit nearly stepped on

Fernwillow.

"Be careful!" Fernwillow meowed gently. Smallkit flinched back, but relaxed when she

realized Fernwillow wasn't angry with her. Gingerclaw licked her on the head and

Smallkit sat down. "Hey! Look at the gray kit! He has creepy eyes!"

Gingerclaw looked at the tom and explained how his eyes looked to his mate. "Wow!

They're amazing! His eyes are yellow, like marigold! What should we name him?"

"I have no idea! I thought we had more time to think about it! How about you name both

of our kits and I name yours." Fernwillow fretted.

"Okay, how about the tom is Bramblekit? It sort of goes with Shadowclan because we're

supposed to be the prickliest of all the clans."

Fernwillow licked Gingerclaw's cheek excitedly. "That's wonderful! Has the she-cat

opened her eyes yet?"

"Yes she has," Smallkit replied. "They're amber! They look exactly like yours

Gingerclaw!"

"And yours," Gingerclaw meowed to his daughter. "Should we name her Thornkit? It

goes with Bramblekit."

"That's a lovely name." Fernwillow mewed, her eyes filled with love for all three of the

kits. "Smallkit, your new name is Rosekit. That way all three of you will go together."

**Sorry I forgot to say that Smallkit is Honeyclaw and Gingerclaw's kit/**


	10. Chapter 10

"Gingerclaw watch me!"

"No! Gingerclaw watch me!"

Gingerclaw looked down at his two youngest kits and chuckled. "How much energy do

you guys have? It seems like it's never ending."

"It is!" Rosekit complained. "As soon as I try to take a nap, they want to play another

game. Even Fernwillow is at her wits end!"

Petalkit and Thistlekit emerged slowly from the nursery to the clearing where all the

other cats were. "I want to be an apprentice!" Petalkit yowled. "I'm more than six moons

old and Stripestar won't let me."

Pigeonwing padded up behind her kit. "That's because you and your brother are always

getting into trouble. You would have been an apprentice a moon ago if you hadn't left

camp and tried to cross the Thunderpath so you could attack Thunderclan. Then when

Stripestar tried to bring you back you called him a rotten piece of fox dung. That's no

way to treat your leader, even if he is your father."

"Yeah, but why didn't I get my apprentice name?" Thistlekit whined. "I didn't do

anything!"

"Yes you did!" Petalkit screeched. "It was your idea to go attack Thunderclan! You just

didn't want to get in trouble so you came back and told on me!" She looked like she was

about to pounce on her brother, but her mother wrapped her tail around Petalkit and

pulled her back. Gingerclaw really hoped his kits weren't as bad as those two. They were

seven moons and still in the nursery, as well Rosekit. Rosekit was always sucked into

their escapades and she was punished for them too. She wasn't allowed to be an

apprentice until she proved she was going to be a contributing member of Shadowclan.

She didn't seem to care though; she just liked to relax in the nursery.

"We want to be apprentices too!" Thornkit meowed. She bounded towards her father,

closely followed by Bramblekit. When she stopped suddenly he crashed into her and that

started a scuffle.

"Stop it!" Fernwillow hissed. "You two need to act your age. In two moons you're going

to be apprentices unless you act like your sister and Petalkit and Thistlekit, in which case

you'll never be apprentices. Darkfur slowly approached the cats and kits. "Stripestar said

it's time to make these three apprentices, they're too lazy."

That entirely ruined Fernwillow's speech and the blind she-cat angrily clawed at the

ground. Darkfur looked around apologetically at Fernwillow, Gingerclaw, and

Pigeonwing. Pigeonwing started cleaning her kits hastily. "I don't want you to look bad

when you become apprentices." She explained between licks, ignoring her kits' mews of

protest. Stripestar called a clan meeting and when all the other cats had joined the ones

already there he began. "Today we have three kits that need to be made apprentices. They

have been wreaking havoc on our clan for a while, so they could use some discipline.

Rosekit, Thistlekit, and Petalkit please come up to me."

The three kits all raced each other up to their leader.

"Do you three promise to listen to your mentors until you are warriors, when you will

follow the warrior code?"

They all nodded excitedly.

"Then I will make you apprentices. Your new names are Rosepaw, Thistlepaw, and

Petalpaw. Rosepaw, your mentor will be Featherfur."

The two touched noses gently and padded into the crowd of cats.

"Thistlepaw, your mentor will be Gingerclaw, and Petalpaw, your mentor will be

Gorsewhisker. Gingerclaw, I hope you will pass on all you learned from Gorsewhisker.

Gorsewhisker, Gingerclaw was a pretty mischevious apprentice, he was even worse than

Petalpaw. I hope you tame her like you tamed him."

Petalpaw and Thistlepaw touched noses with their mentors and stared in amazement at

Gingerclaw. "Wow! You were worse than me?" Petalpaw meowed excitedly.

Gingerclaw dipped his head in embarrassment. "Yes, I was way worse than you."

"What did you do?"

Gingerclaw's ears were flat to his head. "Well, I always took prey before I hunted and I

never took the ticks off of the elders. I also gave the elders old and wet moss, and the

worse thing I did was that I met a Windclan cat every couple of nights."

Rosepaw gasped, she thought that Gingerclaw was going to give her away. Gingerclaw

licked her on the head to show that he knew what she was thinking. Petalpaw was

running in circles she was so excited. "Gingerclaw! You have to tell Thistlepaw

everything and then he can tell me!"

"I don't think I want to give you any ideas." Thistlepaw meowed to his sister.

Gingerclaw's whiskers twitched in amusement and he breathed a sigh of relief. He was _so _

happy he had Thistlepaw instead of Petalpaw, she was such a handful.


	11. Chapter 11

Petalpaw and Gorsewhisker sprinted into camp and whispered something into Stripestar's

ears.

"Aargh!" Stripestar growled. "Windclan again!"

"What's wrong with them this time?" Shortclaw asked.

"They're invading, let's go!" Stripestar yowled. "Gingerclaw, Gorsewhisker, Featherfur,

Petalpaw, Thistlepaw, Shortclaw, and Rosepaw, come with."

The cats raced out of camp and towards the Thunderpath. Suddenly they were surrounded

by Windclan cats. Among them were Honeyclaw and Blacktail. Honeyclaw had a look of

insanity in her pretty green eyes, and her gaze was trained on Rosepaw. "Smallkit." She

hissed. Gingerclaw and Blacktail shared a surprised glance.

"Windclan attack! Show them whose boss!" Windclan's leader, Duststar yowled angrily.

Blacktail leaped onto Shortclaw's back and Gingerclaw knew they were evenly matched.

He leaped onto the closest Windclan cat, a pale tabby tom, and gave him a vicious nip to

the back of his neck that sent the tom squealing back to Windclan territory. He looked

around and saw that now everyone was fighting someone. Blacktail and Shortclaw were

still fighting, and Petalpaw and Thistlepaw were fighting a huge battle-scarred she-cat

together. Stripestar was fighting Duststar and Gorsewhisker was fighting an angry

looking tom. Gingerclaw looked around for Featherfur and saw her running back to

camp; she had been defeated by a small she-cat. He ran at the Windclan cat and she

slipped out of the way at the last second. Gingerclaw skidded to a halt and the she-cat

was suddenly on top of him. She bit his scruff and he flipped over on top of her. He heard

the _Oomph _she made when she hit the ground. She got out from underneath him and

quickly clawed his face and he clawed her back. His claw sunk straight into her eye and

she yowled in pain and ran away from him as fast as possible. He turned around and the

blood dripped into his eyes, but he saw his daughter and his former mate fighting.

"Leave her alone!" He hissed and clawed Honeyclaw's side. Honeyclaw screeched in

pain and tried to bite Rosepaw's throat. "You ruined my life Smallkit!"

"My name is Rosepaw, not Smallkit!" Rosepaw growled.

"You're my daughter, I know who you are, and I named you myself." Honeyclaw replied,

the anger fading in her voice.

"No! You're not my mother, Fernwillow is!"

Honeyclaw's eyes opened up wide. "If you're not my daughter, it won't bother me at all

to kill you right now."

She lifted up her right foreleg and was about to claw Rosepaw's throat when Gingerclaw

sunk his teeth into Honeyclaw's throat. She made a gurgling sound and was still.

The entire battle stopped and Blacktail looked mournfully at Honeyclaw.

"She didn't deserve to die, but there was nothing else to do." Gingerclaw whispered.

The Shadowclan cats left the Windclan cats to take Honeyclaw's body home.

Gingerclaw head was still reeling when they got back to camp.


	12. Chapter 12

"It's okay, Gingerclaw." Rosepaw whispered into her father's ear.

Gingerclaw whipped his head back and forth angrily. "No it's not. I killed her. I killed Honeyclaw."

Fernwillow licked him trying to keep him calm. "She would have killed our daughter. You saved her life."

Gingerclaw sat down and began to calm down. He breathed deeply in and out and finally relaxed.

"Father, I am so grateful for you doing that. It was absolutely necessary and it couldn't have been helped." Rosepaw encouraged.

Gingerclaw looked down and wouldn't look back up. "I killed your mother. You should not be grateful." He turned around and refused to talk to anybody.


	13. Chapter 13

The days passed by and Gingerclaw still lived in silence. He still hunted and fought, but he was distant from all the cats he knew and loved. Fernwillow was having to deal with Thornkit and Bramblekit (now apprentices) wondering and asking why their father didn't want anything to do with them. Icebird was the only cat that Gingerclaw would speak to, but Gingerclaw had never liked her before. His mood began to darken and eventually he quit talking to any cat except Stripestar. He had been offered to do everything from having an apprentice to leading a patrol to going to a gathering, but he refused everything. All of his fire and ambition was gone. Rosepaw had become Rosepad, Thornpaw had become Thornheart, and Bramblepaw had become Bramblenose. Gingerclaw didn't even bother going to their ceremonies, but his own kits had stopped caring long ago. Rosepad was the only one of his kits that even attempted to speak to him, but most of her attempts failed. The only things he said to her were "Go away" or "Leave me alone." She finally gave up and let Gingerclaw live in his cold and isolated world. After quite some time Fernwillow gave up on him too and found another mate, while Rosepad had also found a mate. Bramblenose and Thornheart got their own apprentices and Gingerclaw never spoke one word to them. As the moons went by his physical appearance began to match how he felt. His once bright ginger fur had dulled and his amber eyes had become hollow. You would hardly recognize him as the same cat. He was no longer a young warrior, but he wasn't close to becoming an elder either even though he looked like he would be one soon. After it had been two seasons, he began to watch all the cast. He stayed out of all conversations, but he noticed everything. He had finally begun to stop feeling sorry for himself, but he still wouldn't participate. One thing her noticed was that Shortclaw was getting old and was going to need a replacement, but he couldn't think of anybody to replace him. Rosepad had gained a lot of weight, which was strange because it was the middle of leafbare, and for the first time in moons, she spoke to Gingerclaw.

"Hello Gingerclaw." She greeted coldly.

"Hello daughter." Gingerclaw meowed dully. "I see you've gained weight."

"That would be because I am having kits." Rosepad stated like it was obvious. Gingerclaw nodded and looked down to show that he was done talking.

"Shortclaw is thinking about retiring." Rosepad mewed quietly, trying to get her father to speak with her, but it didn't work.

"He wants Thornheart to take his place."

It still didn't get Gingerclaw to reply.

"Do you know why her name is Thornheart? Because she's become so prickly after you ignored her. She is not able to get close to anybody because she's afraid of losing them like she lost you."

Gingerclaw blinked and his eyes had some spark in them for the first time in moons. After that he became involved in his kits lives and absolutely adored his new mate Icebird and Rosepad's son, Bumblekit. He got his life back to normal and lived happily for the rest of his days.


End file.
